NASA crew could launch to captured asteroid by 2021

3:26 PM,
Apr. 5, 2013

In this artist's concept, an astronaut performs a tethering maneuver at an asteroid. The Space Exploration Vehicle (SEV) is close by, with the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) docked to a habitat in the background.

Written by

James Dean
FLORIDA TODAY

NASA hopes to start work on a mission that could send astronauts to an asteroid within eight years, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said today.

Nelson, who heads the Senate subcommittee that authorizes NASA programs, said the "audacious" plan calls for a robotic spacecraft to capture an asteroid and tow it to a stable orbit around the moon.

Flying in an Orion capsule launched from Kennedy Space Center atop the massive Space Launch System rocket, astronauts would then have a "unique, meaningful and affordable" destination for the next decade, Nelson said. ...